Chapter one: Smiling at the stars
'Come on we're late enough as it is!'
pit pat pit pat
The soft pounding of paws running along the stone road echoed against the walls of the short alleyway as two wolves ran through revealing themselves on the other side.
'I can't run any faster!'
One was slim, tall and elegant with her pink fur rustling in the wind. her hair was blood red before fading into a bright turquoise tips, her fringe draped over one eye and ended in a large fabric hair bobble and more turquoise. the back of her hair would have been below waist length if not for the wind blowing through it. Not that far behind her was a small, average weight wolf with a dark grey pelt, blue hair, a tail resembling Fire and very dark purple eyes. The smaller of the two was the only one wearing clothes, she had a metal choker round her neck on the end of it there was a metal heart, she wore a very light grey t-shirt with two straps from shoulder to hip on opposite sides.
They started to slow down as they approached the edge of a small crowd of ponies and wolves. A couple of young filly's and Cubs crowded round the grey wolf.
'Ash!'
'Astro!'
'Can we play with you?'
'Yeah!'
'Please?'
Astro smiled at the young children she saw before her.
'Sure!'
She spoke with a high pitch and a happy face. She looked up just in time to see her un-related sister walking away. Astro had lived with her for as long as she could remember but she didn't care that they weren't blood related. ash had never heard about her parents but after all.... Her sister didn't have any so why should she?
'Galxi! Where are you going?'
'To get some ingredients and books. I'm gonna need them, I'm making another spell and I've been working on it for quite some time now!'
The reply came and Galxi started to get over excited at the prospect of another spell to add to her vast collection.
'What will it do?'
'It'll increase the healing rate of anyone I cast it on, and'
She paused. this spell would help her on her travels, after all, she was setting off tomorrow.
'And It'll increase my healing ability by over half! It's almost done!'
Ash smiled and turned away.
'I'll meet you at home then. How late will you work till?'
As much as she loved Galxi and her spells she couldn't help but feel upset, she wouldn't be able to stay with her if Galxi stayed up too late. She'd also have trouble getting up the next day.
'Oh only till about 3 this time.'
Astro sighed. 3 in the morning. True, it wasn't that late compared to the times she had stayed up for 2 solid days and nights working, but it meant less time with her.
'Fine. I'll see you then.'
Galxi walked away and went to the nearest Herbalist. Before long she had moved away from the party which had started to occur with a bag of herbs, a pile of books and a sense of determination at the task which lay before her.
~
Astro walked down a dirt road with the wind in her hair, she sat down on the edge of the road and looked up at the dark and jewelled sky above her.
'Galxi... were do I really belong? were will the stars lead us?'
A warm breeze made her eyelids droop as she slowly started to lay down.
'your not quite ready to know were you belong.'
Galxi brushed ashes soft hair with her claws as they looked up into the dark sky. many stars were shining and the moon left a blanket of light across their heads.
'as for were we're going? no one knows. not even me.'
Galxi smiled and looked down.
'we go where the stars lead us and run were the wind takes us.'
she looked up at the stars as a lone tear fell down her cheek.
'Galxi?'
'I'm fine Ash don't worry. just sleep.'
Galxi once again smiled and wiped the tear from her cheek.
'you see? I have you.'
~
Astro awoke in the middle of the night standing near her house. The first thing she noticed was the fact she had been sleep walking. Again. The second thing, she noticed only after she had properly woken up, was the high pitched, blood curdling scream from inside her and Galxi's house. immediately, wrapped in a sense of terror for the wellbeing of her sister, she ran full pelt down the road to her house and flung open the door. The sight she beheld terrified her to the point that she could not move; Galxi was standing, screaming in the centre of the room wrapped in a dark green mist and coughing up blood. In her hand was an old spell book which dropped to the floor with a thud as Galxi lost her grip and collapsed, only to end up curled into a ball thrashing her tail madly back and forth. The realisation hit Astro like a brick. Galxi, her sister, was in trouble in pain. But it was to late. Slowly Galxi was disintegrating, disappearing before her very eyes. and there was nothing she could do about it, nothing at all.
~
